Transcendent
by Lady Milk-Tea
Summary: Transcendent: beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience. Pidge and Shiro had no idea just how much things would change when they rescued yet another human from the Galra. Kagome expected a certain degree of strangeness in her life after graduating from the Space Exploration Academy, just not this much. Rated M for suggestive themes/violence/profanity.
1. Prologue-Chapter 1: Fleeting hope

**Wow, it's been AGES since I last posted anything. The idea for story has been running around my brain for a long, long time. Too long. I havent completely written it out either, so you'll have to excuse me for the delay between chapters once I run out of them. Anyway, thank you for giving it a chance, I hope you'll let me know your thoughts on it in a review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim to own, Voltron: Legendary Defender or Inuyasha. They each belong to their respective creators.**

 **Warnings : This story contains violence and suggestive themes. I will write the appropriate warnings at the start of each chapter.**

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 _Prologue_

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She was the youngest of all her classmates on the day of their graduation but that had always been the case for Japanese kids born in May; her eighteenth birthday was still a few months away. And, although age had nothing to do with it, she was also one of the shortest girls there. It was all too noticeable when she stepped up to receive her diploma. Kagome felt almost out of place as she stood there amongst all her peers, but she kept her chin raised and her shoulders set back, her posture straight and proud, because she really was.

There'd been times when this day seemed like a faraway, unattainable dream. She was proud to have made it so far.

Her mother was snapping pictures of her every few seconds, the flash of her tiny digital camera was nearly blinding when coupled all the _other_ parents keen on capturing every single precious millisecond of their child's most significant academic achievement to date. She would've sighed, if it hadn't been for Souta making funny faces at her from behind their mother's back. The top of his head already surpassed her shoulders, and he'd just turned eleven three months ago. Life was truly unfair.

Kagome smiled and held her diploma close as the photographer took the group shot. For the last picture, Yuka and Eri scrambled over and put an arm around her shoulders, while Ayumi placidly held up a peace sign from under Eri's other arm. Caps askew and robes more rumpled than they'd been before, the four of them laughed and smiled for the camera. Or cameras, seeing as their families had caught up and were set to take pictures too.

This was what she'd stayed for, the teen thought as yet another flash made spots dance in her vision. Her friends, her family, her _future_. Nothing on the other side of the well would've been able to replace that. _Not even Inuyasha._

Her only regret was that she never got the chance to say goodbye.

" _Earth to Kagome-chan_. Welcome back, space cadet." Yuka bumped her hip, literally jostling her out of her depressing thoughts. She smirked. "How was your trip to the moon?"

Of course, Eri had to join in on the fun. "You should consider a career in astronomy, Kagome-chan. You can _space_ -out all you want~!" Kagome groaned at the terrible joke as Yuka and Eri exchanged a high five, nearly tipping over with laughter.

"I actually think Kagome-chan would be suited to being an astronaut." Ayumi piped up, her index finger tapping her chin in thought. The laughing pair snorted, and Kagome could only shoot them a mild glare before they burst into giggles again.

Kagome brought her hands up to cover her face. "Not you too, Ayumi-chan." She'd of course expected it from the other two, but Ayumi was rarely one to tease her… on anything really.

The curly haired girl waved the comment off, her face pensive. "No, no, I'm being serious. An astronaut is much more active than an astronomer, which is why I think it'd be a better fit for you." She shrugged in the face of her shock. "Weren't you into stars and such when high school started?"

Yuka agreed, "Oh yeah, I remember that! Our geography teacher was so surprised when you named a bunch of constellations when he caught you, wait for it… _spacing out_."

Kagome bopped the teen on the head with her diploma, ignoring her protests. "Eri-chan already used that one, genius." But while the four of them talked and joined up with their families, Kagome's mind was wandering somewhere above the clouds, envisioning a future exploring places no human being had ever seen before.

 _An astronaut, huh._

 _._

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"It'll be barely more than a few months, mama. You know I've been away longer." Her mother was still fretting, something she'd never done when she was time-hopping as a young fifteen-year-old. Not as much as she was doing _now_. She'd been in more danger back then than she would be when she finally boarded KIBO, the most advanced man-bearing space-craft to date, and set off for Charon.

She could hear her mother huffing on the other line. " _Well, you were always on the same planet. I doubt we'll be able to call you in outer space."_

"You couldn't call me when I was in the past either, but I can actually call you if the satellite's aligned properly." Kagome gently reminded her as she packed the last article of clothing in the standard military green duffle bag: an evening gown she'd bought the day before.

Jamming her phone between her ear and shoulder, Kagome fought to get the zipper across the opening of her bag. She'd had it since she joined the Japanese Academy for Astronautics and, although it looked nothing like the monstrous yellow backpack she'd toted around in the past, but she couldn't help feeling the two were similar anyway. _"Yes, yes, I know that- Souta, you've broken enough things in this house with that ball…"_ Her mother's voice faded as she most likely held the phone away from her to scold her little brother.

" _Hey nee-chan, bring me back a space rock from Neptune!"_

She heaved a tired sigh that was much too exaggerated to be genuine. "Souta, I'm not even going to Neptune. Charon is one of _Pluto's_ moons."

" _Yeah, yeah, whatever, just remember to bring a space rock back with you!"_ If anyone would be receiving a rock from Charon, it'd be the research team waiting back at the station, certainly _not_ her bratty seventeen-year-old brother, but she'd told him enough times already.

"Mm-hm... Put mama back on, will you? And stop slowly demolishing our house with your soccer ball, I know it was you who broke the glass moon I sent back for jii-chan's birthday last year."

" _Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you, oh hey, here's kaa-san, see you later~!"_ Kagome rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep the smile from her face.

Hearing her mother huff on the other line, she asked, "Is the squirt coming to see me off too?" Finished with her bag, she went into her small den to get her purse while she waited for an answer.

" _Of course. Even jii-chan is coming, and we're planning on bringing Buyo to your aunt's so he can see you. He misses you terribly."_ Her mother crooned.

Kagome raised a brow as she rifled through her purse, taking out what she didn't need and replacing it with her passport and plane tickets. She snickered and shoved a pack of gum into one of the compartments, "Who, Jii-chan or Buyo?"

" _Both of them!"_ With how indignant her mother sounded, she may as well have stepped on her.

Deciding to change the subject, Kagome looked around her small bedroom and found an old picture frame she'd knocked over on accident at least three times since receiving it. She flopped onto the twin mattress and snatched it from her bedside table. Four faces smiled back at her, one of them her own. She snickered at Ayumi's serene peace sign. "Have you heard back from the girls yet?"

She could hear her mother chuckle, "I did. We'll be meeting them at the airport, Yuka-chan is bringing her fiancé."

Kagome blinked in surprise. "Oh, I didn't think Hojo-kun would be able to make it. Is he done with his internship at the hospital already?" They hadn't seen each other on her last trip to Tokyo because of it. _It'll be nice to catch up._ She smiled at the thought.

There was a faint rustling on the other line before she got a response. _"I suppose so... When did you say your flight was, dear?"_

A heavy sigh escaped her. "In a few more hours. The plane leaves at seven. Then it's going to be a wonderful, _eighteen-hour flight_ to Houston." At least she wasn't paying for it. It was part of some sort of program to make nice with an American organization with the same goals as the one she was a part of. In her mind though, it was just an excuse for the Academy to flaunt their very young team of space explorersand their _super innovative_ space program-expedition, both things the other didn't have yet.

 _They always act like little kids with these things… so competitive._ It didn't stop the pride she felt at her own accomplishments however. So what if she did preen a little when the board chose her to lead the mission despite her field being wildly different from a pilot's? Even if the addition of the piloting course to her own biomedical engineering program had been pretty heavy-handed, she'd pulled through on raw determination alone. She'd never known so many sleepless nights, but she'd persevered, and now six years later she was reaping the rewards of her hard work. Or would be soon, anyway.

" _Oh, I still can't believe you'll only be there for the weekend before they send you back. The least they could do is grant you an entire week to meet some cute guys and have fun before shipping you off to space."_ Kagome nearly choked on her own spit.

 _God, please don't turn this into a talk about my love life, please don't turn this into a talk about my love life._

"I don't suppose there will be a handsome future son-in-law that will be waiting for you here one Earth, hmm?"

It turned into a talk about her love life. What a surprise.

The flight left her as tired as she'd expected it to. She had arrived at Houston, Texas in the early afternoon of the following day with the energy level of a lethargic sloth. After a fifteen-minute wait for her luggage and another ten-minute wait in line for the bathroom she changed out of her comfy t-shirt and leggings and made herself as presentable as possible in a cream-colored peplum top and tube skirt. Sneakers were promptly replaced by wedge sandals and placed back inside her suitcase.

Besides the usual fight with the baby hairs where her hairline started, her hair was easy to take care of. The messy bun she'd put it in for the flight was quickly undone; she ran her fingers lightly through the black locks to avoid disrupting the curls that had formed. After another short fuss over the short wisps of hair above her forehead –getting bangs again was becoming more appealing by the minute- she moved on to makeup.

On the academy-provided car ride to the hotel there was nothing to keep her occupied; she was too exhausted and jetlagged to enjoy the sights or be even remotely interested in them. In the end the car pulling to a complete stop beside the hotel's entrance was what roused her from something that was not quite a nap, not quite a daydream. The driver helped her get her suitcase out of the trunk and pointed her to the lady waiting for her by a large revolving door. Kagome eyed the lobby from behind the glass doors. _Fancy, no wonder the party is going to be here_.

"Miss Higurashi?" The woman in a pretty black vest and skirt suit asked, holding a clipboard close to her chest.

She was led to her room. Once inside, she tossed her shoes aside and collapsed onto the bed.

Hours later, she was dressed up and waiting anxiously by the entrance to the ballroom. Her mentor was the first to greet her, thank goodness. "Ah, Higurashi-kun, the lady of the hour. Come, you must meet your _rival_." He led her away from intrusive reporters to a corner of the ballroom where a tall older man and a guy around her age stood, purposely angled toward the wall.

Kagome had to admire their strategy. The pillar behind them successfully hid them from unwanted attention. Her mentor switched seamlessly to English when they were within earshot, "Samuel! It has been far too long, old friend!" She hoped to achieve that effortless transition one day. Thankfully she wasn't too far, since the Academy's language classes were just as intense of the rest of them. She was still unsure how she'd done better in Russian than English when the latter had been part of her education since elementary school.

The ash blond turned around immediately, she assumed he was "Samuel" and not the youngest of the pair who looked up in surprise. Both of their faces lit up in recognition once they spotted them. "Manabu, you old dog! Finally got away from your lab? Is it doomsday already?" The pair chuckled at what must've been an inside joke, since the man beside Samuel looked just as lost as she did.

She locked eyes with him and shared a bemused smile. As soon as he met her stare a jolt when down her spine. Beautiful dark gray eyes crinkled into a grin, and _wow_ , what a charming face. Kagome quickly looked at the laughing pair next to them, tugging at a curl near her face as a sudden fit of nerves washed over her. Her face was burning; she resisted the urge to press the back of her hand to her cheek. Barely.

"And this must be the precious student I've heard so much about! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I'm Samuel Holt, an old friend of your teacher here." He shook her hand respectfully, his face alight with curiosity and genuine excitement.

"The pleasure is all mine. I am Higurashi, Kagome, but I guess you already knew that." She shot a playfully scolding look to her mentor, "Sensei, I didn't know you _gossiped_ about me." She chided good naturedly, enjoying his faux affronted expression, and the hearty laugh escaped his friend at the sight. A chuckle from the younger man next to him had her blush returning and her heart doing things that definitely couldn't be good for her health. And she had a medical degree, she would know _._ If it skipped any more beats, she'd go into cardiac arrest.

Samuel steered her towards his companion with a light hand on her shoulder, as if sensing her need not to see him directly and feeling obligated to make sure she had to look right at him and turn into a blushing puddle of Kagome goo. "This is the Galaxy Garrison's finest pilot. Shiro, you remember the Academy student I was telling you about, right?" It was a strange way to introduce someone, but recognition had "Shiro's" eyebrows rising and his mouth parting the slightest bit. Kagome felt herself twitch. _What have these people been saying about me?!_

There was a new gleam in those gray eyes when they settled on her again. She couldn't tell what it was, but her heart was doing that fluttery thing again because of it. "You're the pilot of the Charon Mission?" He asked with no small amount of awe. The amazement on his face boosted her self-esteem like nothing else.

Unconsciously standing just a little straighter, with a bit more confidence, Kagome grinned and nodded. "That would be me. Pleased to meet you...?" She trailed off and watched him flounder as he seemed to remember he hadn't introduced himself yet. He offered her his hand, which she delightedly shook. His hold was firm, and wonderfully warm. She made sure to apply the same amount of pressure before letting go.

"I'm Takashi Shirogane, pilot of the Galaxy Garrison. Is it true you beat Japan's flight record when you were in your second year of flight training?" He looked fascinated, and the change from the quiet stranger she'd initially pegged him as was a pleasant surprise.

Sadly, she had to dash his hopes. "Ah, that's just a rumor. I was already done with my training when I broke it."

He didn't appear to be any less impressed, or disappointed, and he had no problems letting her know that."That's still amazing. Did you know you set a standard over at the Garrison? Cadets are constantly trying to beat your score on their flight tests. None have succeeded so far."

Oblivious to how flustered she'd gotten from the flattery, Samuel chortled, "Well, they've succeeded in getting themselves in trouble with the General when they go off course."

Her mentor gaped, "Don't tell me Iverson's seeing over the cadet's training now?!" at Samuel's nod of affirmation, he let out a snort. "Never thought I'd see the day. How did that happen?"

"Well, you see, it happened after the Austin incident..." Soon they were wrapped up in their own conversation, leaving Kagome and Shirogane to themselves as they wandered a ways away.

Kagome stared after them with a raised brow before turning back to Shirogane. "So, Shirogane-san. You mentioned you're a pilot as well?" She asked in hopes of keeping their previous conversation going. He quickly brought his attention back to her when she began speaking, and she felt very important because of it. _Wow, a guy treats you with common decency and suddenly you're head-over-heels for him. Get a grip, Kagome!_

"I did, actually. In a few years, I'll be the pilot in charge of the Kerberos Mission. And please, call me Shiro, or Takashi, if you prefer. Shirogane is a bit of a mouthful." He insisted, so who was she to deny him? She'd forgotten how forward Americans were with addressing each other, but she could go along with it. Inuyasha hadn't bothered with honorifics, and now that she thought about it, neither had Shippo or Sesshōmaru. Was it a demon thing?

"Alright, T-Takashi-san. You said the Kerberos Mission?" She stumbled over his name a little, thankfully he didn't comment on it. Instead he launched into whatever details he could reveal over his mission to one of the other moons orbiting Pluto.

"Will it be your first time in space?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. Back at the Academy, any astronauts going on long-term missions in space had to undergo a month-long training course in the station orbiting Earth first, at least three months before the date of the assignment. She assumed it was similar in the States.

"Apart from standard visits to the ISS, yeah. But I've been flying for years already, so I'm not too nervous about it. What about you, any thoughts about spending the next seven months in a tiny ship?" He countered, and she found his teasing grin infectious.

"I'll have the best crew with me for the ride, so I think I'll be fine. We've been stocking up on all kinds of road trip games just for this mission, so I don't think it'll be any close to boring. Besides, I'll be in _space_ , what's more exciting than that?"

Takashi grinned, and she felt warmth travel from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes because of it. "True."

A little while later, after they'd both acquired glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, her Commanding Officer found her and ushered her to meet with the rest of the important guests there. When the man walked off, Kagome turned to Takashi and offered him a lopsided smile. "That was my cue. I'll see you around, Takashi-san."

"W-Wait a sec. Here." He'd scribbled something down on a tiny notepad he pulled from the inside of his suit. She took it with interest and found a series of numbers written down in in black ink. Heat pooled in her face for the umpteenth time that night. Her stomach felt like it was doing summersaults inside of her. _Oh my god, he gave me his number._ Her brain damn near short-circuited."Call me sometime- or text. That works too…" He mumbled and she found the bashful way he ran a hand through his short hair adorable.

She held up a finger and grabbed her phone from her clutch. Within seconds she'd input his number and sent him a simple text. _'Hey. This is my number :) '_ She heard his phone vibrate in his pocket and had to smirk when he jumped in surprise. "Don't be a stranger, Takashi-san." She cautioned, then decided to take it one step further and add a little wink before she turned and walked away.

 _Did I just do that? I can't believe I did that!_ Kagome couldn't hold in the nervous giggle bubbling in her chest. She covered her mouth and laughed.

If she had the courage to look back, Kagome would've seen the way Shiro was slowly turning a deep shade of red while he gaped at her retreating back.

.

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Chapter 1: Fleeting hope

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Vaguely, she knew time had passed. A lot of time. How strange that she'd resorted to checking her hair to know as much. It was long, too long in fact, she noted as it brushed over her thighs when she walked. It hadn't been nearly as long before, barely reaching her waist when fully straight. At least a few years had to have gone by since she was taken by the Galra Empire, but how much time it was since she was abducted was a mystery.

She never stopped wondering how they made everything work: the artificial gravity, the weapon system, the _navigation_ , the speed at which they moved and, her eyes narrowed in front of her, the security. If she hadn't been a prisoner, and if there weren't so many more trapped there like her, the experience on the alien vessel would've been magnificent, a chance to take back some of the knowledge back home and exchange what she could.

But things didn't work that way with this species, it seemed. They'd been unlucky with their first alien encounter, or so Kagome hoped. The Earth was doomed if there were more conquering races out there.

The robotic sentries leading her stopped in front of a familiar door and stepped aside as it opened. Knowing that the pair behind her had their guns trained on her (a consequence to her latest escape attempt), Kagome sighed and stepped into the extraction room. She'd be in there for the next few days, as was customary, until most of the desired substance was filtered out in tubes from her body. Then, she'd be returned to her cell with the other prisoners, until she recovered. And the cycle repeated.

The droids stripped her down to her tattered bra and underwear, then bound her neck, torso and legs to a metal examination table. After checking her restraints (they'd learned to do as much after a different escape attempt) they began to sedate her so they could start the decontamination process. Which was basically a shower, but more clinical and not at all how she would've wanted it to be.

At the touch of a floating screen the machines on either side of her whirred to life and hosed her down. There was a faint smell afterwards like usual, but she no longer dwelled on it. The only thing that mattered was she was clean again. Even if it wasn't on her own terms. The thought of the one pulling the strings had her glaring blearily at the ceiling.

 _For the things he's done, I'll never forgive him._ It was the only thing going through her head as If she never saw his face again, it would be too soon. Naraku couldn't hold a candle to the vileness of the one responsible for her exploitation. Zarkon. The time when she learned his name, when she was being restrained for the first time to be shoved inside a pod, his name was spoken by one of the living guards assigned to the room. Always "emperor Zarkon" this, "emperor Zarkon" that; everything was ordered by him, it seemed. He was responsible for the imprisonment of thousands of innocents, she'd met a couple of other humans, and people from other worlds scattered among the stars. He was responsible for what happened to her crew.

He was the reason she'd never see her family or home planet ever again... not if she remained on this ship.

 _I hope that boy and his father made it out fine…_ She didn't want to think about the alternative. Those other humans… had they been two or three? It was difficult to remember; their arrival at the prison had been after the Galra began their tests on her. She hoped they hadn't been subjected to the arena like she was at the start. Her memories of that time were hazy, at best. Whatever they were doing to her, was messing with her head.

Sometimes, when her memory was out of whack and she was disoriented after the extraction, the only things able to ground her were the scars that wouldn't fade no matter how many times she was dunked into the precious gold the Galra prized so much. In a way, she was grateful for them, as a link to the recollections she'd unconsciously buried. Yet, at the same time she resented them. They were just another mark the Galra left on her body, proof that she was too weak to escape.

 _No, they're proof I've survived._

Kagome knew she had to get out. Before she was reduced to a limp sack of skin and bones whose only purpose was the production of a golden substance she didn't even know the purpose of, and barely even knew the name of. But escaping had been impossible up until that point. How could she... there was just no way...

 _I can't afford to think like that... it's what they want me to believe. I have to hold on to hope, I have to keep trying_. Immobilized as she was, tears gathered in her eyes, pooling until they spilled over the corners of her eyes to fall across her temples and into her hair. She couldn't wipe them away.

She no longer flinched when they inserted the needles attachedto several tubes, no longer struggled to avoid the mask they secured over her nose and mouth. She was only thankful they didn't see the need to strip her completely. Not after the first time they'd tried, and she incapacitated one of the few living guards on the ship as a result.

The droid sentries stationed at the door remained still; one of the armored guards and a creature with a pointed, angular mask moved her from the stretcher and into a cylindrical pod, where they finished attaching several more restraints to her wrists and feet. The cuffs, she discovered early on, had needles in them too. More transparent tubes were connected to them.

Her consciousness began to wane as the pod closed. She let her eyes fall shut as golden liquid was dispensed into it; the warmth from it always made her feel cold. Her last thought before she was fully gone and the fluid covered her head was a prayer for help.

If there is a god that can hear me…

 _Please…_

 _Let me get out of this place alive._

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 **A/N:**

 **And that's that. I'll have the next chapter up... soonish. I was going through ffn's guidelines earlier and was guilt tripped into revising everything again. And I take forever to do that. It should be up this month though.**

 **Thank you again for reading! I will absolutely appreciate your critique of my work. Let me know if any spelling errors slipped through, if something wasn't clear in the narrative, or what sneaky things you think will happen in the next chapter. See you later!**

Originally posted: June 10th, 2018


	2. Chapter 2: The girl in the tank

**Wow, thank you all for such a warm welcome! I'm happy you liked the first chapter, hopefully this one is just as entertaining! I did proof read this a bunch, but some spelling errors might crop up. Please let me know if something seems wonky so I can correct it ASAP.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Warnings: Infrequent swearing/mild violence**

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Chapter 2: The girl in the tank

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"Dad—?" No response. He wasn't there. Shiro couldn't blame the kid for looking so dismayed. Dr. Holt and Matt had become like a second family to him. The hope that had filled his chest was gone as he surveyed the room, leaving a chilling emptiness in its wake. There were other prisoners there… just not the ones they were looking for. Even so, he couldn't on good conscience leave them behind.

The prisoners cowered and huddled together, shying away from them and the light pooling in from the hall. He stepped forward to address them, his hands held out in front of him in a gesture meant to appease them. Instead, they flinched away. Shiro frowned. "Don't be afraid, we're here to help you escape."

One of them recognized him. He could feel Pidge looking at him when they called him "champion". The only thing he felt was a growing sense of apprehension twisting his gut, along with the confusion messing with his head. Something… He remembered something, though the memory was blurry and out of reach. All he knew was it had to do with the title the prisoner tacked on him. _Champion of what, exactly?_ His thick brows pinched together in thought.

A fleeting touch on his shoulder snapped him back to reality. It was the captive that recognized him. "Champion, I must inform you. There is another prisoner in this ship. She is kept on the hall opposite to this one. Please, you must free her as well. She has done much for us, I cannot bear to leave her in this wretched place." He pleaded, relaxing only when he agreed with a slow nod. "Thank you."

Pidge glanced up from the floor at the information, arms crossed tightly across the chest. "We don't have much time. Let's go, I saw something that looked like an escape pod on the way here."

"We'll escort you there and make sure you get out safe before going back for the other prisoner." When no one disagreed with the plan, Shiro motioned to the door, "Lead the way, Pidge."

They ushered everyone out of the cell and made it to the docking area without incident. When everyone was safely inside an escape pod, Shiro and Pidge sent them off to the castle back on Arus, then set off to find the remaining prisoner.

Neither of them spoke as they crept along the walls and avoided passing guards. Shiro could tell Pidge was still disappointed, but the time for comfort would have to wait until after they left the Galra's ship. Pidge instructed the reprogrammed drone affectionately dubbed "Rover" to direct them to the room where the prisoner was. The little metallic pyramid bobbed in the air before zooming off, forcing them to run after it to keep up. They made it to an entirely different section of the ship, lit in shades of green instead of purple, and with a few close calls. Thankfully, with Rover originally belonging to the Galra, they were able to avoid getting caught. Once more, Rover opened a door using a thin stream of light it emitted from its "eye" on transparent panel next to the entrance. They followed it inside cautiously.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Pidge freeze beside him. The room they wandered into was some kind of lab, with strange substances in vials scattered across it and holographic monitors in every corner. And in the very center of the room, like an experiment on display in an overgrown test tube, was a sight straight out of a science fiction movie.

A girl.

A human girl… connected to more wires and tubes than he could count, floating in glowing, yellow liquid inside a transparent pod for everyone to see. From their spot it was difficult to tell if she was breathing or not, although there were bubbles floating to the surface from the mask covering the lower half of her face. There was no indication she knew they were there.

Shiro moved first, approaching the large screen directly in front of the pod with Pidge following hesitantly behind him, his stomach twisting in knots the whole while. Several things that were displayed there he couldn't understand, but he could take a guess. On the upper right corner of the screen was a picture of the girl that was curiously blurry, like she'd refused to sit still while it was being taken, though the anger on her face was clear. Beneath the image was a rectangle with a straight line running horizontally through the middle of it. Every second or so, a small disruption in the line glided across it, from left to right. Her heartbeat possibly? To the left of that was a dial turned up to the highest setting, and three bars parallel to each other that increased and decreased with no discernable pattern. There was something written to the left of each bar, but neither he nor Pidge could read what it said.

He turned to Pidge, who was scanning the screen intently. "We don't have much time. Let's get her out of here."

Pidge's lips were pressed into a thin line, but still nodded in agreement. "Right." There was something resembling a handprint beneath the dial on the screen, and Pidge pointed to it, "We could try that first? If it doesn't work, we could just break it open or something…"

So he did. The hand of his prosthetic arm turned the hand-like shape a brighter purple for a second before it returned to the same subdued shade as before. Whirring filled the room and it became clear _something_ was happening. Four smaller versions of the tank the girl was in glided along a steel track out from behind the main pod. Only one of them was filled to the top with the same yellow-gold liquid as the large one, the following one was halfway full, and the other two were empty. The containers kept following the track until they reached the wall, where a rectangular door slid open to let them through. It shut behind them.

Pidge was going to say something, but a loud hiss interrupted whatever it was. Their attention snapped back to the tank, then to the steam escaping from where three pipes extending from the ceiling were connected to the "lid". They popped off and retreated into their slots above the tank, which was beginning to tilt back of its own accord.

"Um…?" They exchanged an alarmed look and crept closer, caution driving them to stand a few feet away, just in case. He hadn't noticed when it started, but the liquid was being transferred into another tank about that was about half as wide and around three quarters of the height of the big one. The draining finished at the same time the back of the tank was level with the floor. What had appeared to be a seamless glass surface split down the middle with a loud _pop_. He jolted at the sound and had to hold in a snicker at the skittish squeak Pidge tried to stifle but couldn't quite do it in time.

"Guess we won't be breaking this thing open, after all. Nice guess." He missed Pidge's pleased smile as he sidled up to the tank to bend down and nudge the lid open the rest of the way. Pidge took one look down and quickly turned away. Shiro raised a brow and looked back at the pod. Three things became clear at the exact same time.

One: He was very unobservant.

Two: Whatever was coating the girl before was quickly evaporating into a thin, odorless mist.

Three: The only thing keeping the girl from being completely naked were her soaked bra and panties.

His eyes flew to her face and he kept them there while he figured out how to go about moving her, ignoring the heat gathering in his cheeks. Her face… something was familiar about it…

Pidge jogged back over and threw a tarp over her. At his questioning look Pidge shrugged and looked away, muttering just loud enough for him to hear, "It was the only thing I could find…"

"Good thinking." They made quick work of wrapping her up like a burrito. He scooped her up and straightened, but was held back before he could stand completely. A peek down revealed he was stepping on her hair. _Crap._ He cringed and lowered her a bit."Pidge, help me get her hair out of the way."

Following his line of sight, Pidge grimaced and bent down to grab it from under his foot. The green paladin paused and took a closer look. "Huh… it's- it's dry." Shrugging it off for the moment, the teen gathered the rest of it and stuffed it into the tarp, careful of keeping her face clear of it so as to not obstruct her breathing. Pidge grumbled and untangled a curl from the suit's gloves, "I can't believe someone would grow their hair out this long."

Shiro snorted but chose to keep his mouth shut while he hoisted the girl over his shoulder; he'd be able to carry her longer that way. He looked back in apprehension when Pidge let out a groan of frustration. "What?" he breathed, wary of the sudden mood shift. His only response was a finger pointing to the floor. He twisted a little to follow it and found the girl's hair had spilled over behind him. Shiro sighed, "Just… cross it over to the front. Please." He was grateful Pidge did as he asked with only an annoyed look in the oblivious girl's direction.

They were twice as careful avoiding the Galra sentries on their way back to the Green Lion. Not only were they even more conspicuous than they were before, Shiro was also weighed down. If they were caught…

"Shit!" Before he could berate Pidge for the cuss, he was pushed into the wall next to him. Four laser shots flew over the spot he'd been standing in. _Only four…_ He could hear their clanging footsteps about to come around the corner.

With no more time to think, he thrust the girl into Pidge's hold. "Take her. Wait." Was his clipped order before he rushed to meet the sentries. They faltered at the exact same time, and he didn't question the delay. A purple glow shone in his periphery vision, and he slammed his right hand sideways into the first one he saw, smashing straight through the circuits on its neck. Before the drone could topple to the ground he flung it at the others. They crashed into the far wall.

They gave one last, garbled "Halt!" before short-circuiting. He heaved a gulp of air before going back to where he left Pidge with the girl. "Thank god, I mean, she's not as heavy as I thought but my arms are gonna fall off if I hold her any longer." Shiro quickly took over and placed her back on his shoulder. He was still pumped, so the girl felt practically weightless as they slunk around the halls and ran to where they'd boarded the ship. He carefully placed the girl down and took his helmet off. Pidge stared at him quizzically until he fastened it over the girl's head and activated the oxygen mask.

"You go first, and I'll wait here to give you cover while you get her inside the Lion." With a nod Pidge took the girl through the opening they'd made earlier. Shiro stood guard a few paces away, ears trained for the familiar clang of metal against metal indicating an approaching sentry, or the sound of blasters being fired. So focused on his task, he actually jerked away from the hand Pidge placed on his shoulder a moment later. Apologizing, Shiro took his helmet back and followed Pidge to the giant Lion waiting for them. Once there, they both stared at the girl Pidge had left on the floor next to the seat.

"So. How is this going to work?" Pidge gestured down to their unexpected passenger.

"I could just... hold onto the chair and her, I guess...?" And he did just that, holding his new charge against him while keeping a firm grip on the back of Pidge's seat all throughout the ride back to the Castle. They signaled Hunk and Lance on the way and met up with Keith at the entrance.

It was time to unlock the Black Lion.

.

* * *

.

"Ugh, why did he have to dump her on me?" Katie muttered under her breath, but still made sure to move the girl so she was safely nestled between her and the control panel, At least that would keep her from rolling around everywhere... At least she hoped so.

 _Should've taken you back to the castle when I had the chance... Damn._ She was going to have to be extra careful flying- no barrel rolls or loop-de-loops unless she wanted to give the poor girl a concussion. She felt bad for forgetting about her, but could she really be blamed for being distracted by an awesome unveiling of a huge black robotic lion? Maybe a little, since she was putting someone else's life at risk.

 _Oh well, I'll make it up to you later... if there is a later..._ Pushing the negative thought away for the moment, Katie maneuvered her Lion out of the castle to join the others on the bridge. About a dozen fighter ships swarmed the castle like flies, but their blasts were nothing to be concerned about thanks to the nifty shield Allura had put up. _Why can't the Lions have one of those? We could really use them..._ She squinted at the large Galra ship and felt her heart stop when she saw the light gathering in front of its canyon. Seeing that and then glancing down to the girl at her feet, Katie raced her Lion forward and screamed, "MOVE!"

They all scattered, the others reacting in time to avoid the blast. The castle wasn't so lucky, though. "Thanks for the warning, Pidge!" Lance wheezed over the com, she could see the Blue Lion hovering beside the bridge, next to a huge scorch mark on the ground.

"Yeah, no kidding. Those Galra guys repair things fast!" Hunk commented, a little out of breath himself. He was next to her, on the other side of the bridge from where Lance was.

At her feet the girl made a small noise. Katie couldn't tell if it was pained or not. Casting a quick look at the looming ship, she bent down to check on the girl. She poked her cheek, but received no response. "Huh... I could've sworn I heard you..." She mumbled, re-tucking the girl's long hair into the tarp.

"Did you say something, Pidge?" Hunk's voice jolted her upright, and it was only her helmet that saved her from a painful collision with the dashboard. Nonetheless, a loud bang echoed through the telecom. She winced when she heard it.

"Quiznak, what was that?!" Lance shrieked, and Katie might've found it funny if she wasn't panicked about finding an excuse.

Katie stammered, "Um, uh… n-nothing?"

Coran saved her from bursting a vein. "Paladins, focus! The barrier can't take more blasts like that, once it goes down, we'll be defenseless!"

Allura was quick to back him up, "That's right, we need to you to focus. I can give you cover with the castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now!"

 _Wow. Okay. No pressure._

Unbeknownst to him, Hunk mirrored her thoughts exactly: "Jeez, no pressure." His grumble went mostly ignored, but Katie agreed. How, exactly, were they supposed to form an all-powerful robot weapon, when they barely knew how to fly the things the weapon itself was made of? Was there a manual? A pamphlet or a guide? Anything? Katie glanced down at the dashboard, though nothing stood out to her. _Not like I expect a book called "How to Build Voltron for Dummies", but shouldn't they at least tell us something a little more specific than "form Voltron now"?_

They were more prepared for the shockwave of the second blast when it came. Katie grit her teeth as her Lion rattled, gripping the controls tightly as she rode out the aftershock. If she was going to be honest, she didn't think she'd be able to take another one of those either _. I am so finding out if I can put a mini particle barrier on this thing._

On Shiro's command, they took to the skies, bounding forward away from the castle and onto the ground. The fighter planes followed, overwhelming them with blasts so numerous they were nearly blinding. Katie dodged as best as she could, and ended up placing one foot on either end of the tarp-roll to keep the girl inside from slipping out of the spot. _Aw man..._ She groaned when her hair spilled out. God help her, if she stepped on it like Shiro did, she was going to freak. Just imagining someone stepping on her own hair sent shivers down her spine.

Three successive shots hit the ground in front of her. She veered to the left with a snarl, "This is insane! How are we supposed to figure this out if they. Don't. Stop. Shooting!" She pounced for the aircraft targeting her and flung it at the one behind it. Frustration momentarily sated, she turned to repeat the process with the one following Hunk.

"We've got to do _something_!" Keith spoke up for the first time since they exited the castle. He was really quiet. Katie didn't know what was going through his head most of the time. Which was pretty normal considering she'd just met him. All she really knew was that he had a short fuse. And some killer piloting skills. If he weren't so intimidating, she'd ask him for lessons.

"Combine!" Hunk's shout drew her attention to the left just in time to see the yellow Lion slam into the red one.

She couldn't believe her eyes. _Did he just…?_ Her brow twitched in disbelief. They could rule out that strategy, at least. Katie snorted as Keith got back up with a reproachful "hey!", and blasted another fighter out of the sky. She jolted when Allura's face popped up on a screen to her right and barely managed to avoid crashing into Lance after the distraction. Katie scowled as the princess urged them to form Voltron. Again. _A little warning would be nice._ Realizing she'd kicked her foot forward from fright, she quickly retracted it with a wince and repositioned it under the poor girl. _That… might leave a bruise,_ she thought, cringing.

They took to the sky again. One minute they were flying of their own accord and the next, Sendak's ship was pulling them in like a crazy alien spaceship-shaped magnet. She pulled and twisted at the controls, but they wouldn't budge. Sweat gathered on her brow, falling to her chin and trailing down her neck while her heart pounded in her ears. She could only just hear the others over the sound of it. Hunk's screams became white noise as another shot from the ship's canon obliterated the castle's shield. She turned away from the screen showing the smoke rising from the castle, but that left her staring at the ship slowly drawing them in. Desperation welled up in her. "It can't end here!" Katie refused to believe it, but it was hard to deny it when _it_ was in her face.

She peered down at the girl they'd only just rescued from that very same ship. Tears stung at her eyes and she looked away in shame. They had to do _something_ , anything! Because if they didn't…

Like he was reading her mind, Shiro called out, _"No! We can do this! We have to believe in ourselves!"_ When he spoke, there was no doubt in his voice, no uncertainty. She could almost believe he wasn't as scared as the rest of them were. _"We can't give up, we're the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail!"_ He yelled. At the sheer determination in his voice, she couldn't help but nod with renewed purpose.

Katie readjusted her grip on the controls and took a deep breath. _We can still do this! It's not over yet!_ Her shout joined the others as their Lions roared and surged forward.

They formed Voltron. And it was the most amazing thing she could've ever imagined. Her Lion zoomed forward on its own, leaving her to hold her unintentional passenger down while it shifted and transformed. The process took seconds, but she knew the adrenaline rush that came from it would take much longer to go away. She was an arm! An arm that shot _lasers!_ The fighter ships had nothing on her, or Voltron for that matter. Sendak's ship went down in a matter of minutes after they destroyed its canon. It crashed to the ground below with a trail of black smoke, where it burst into flames.

There was only one thing she could think of as they landed back in front of the castle: _That was the coolest thing ever._

 _._

* * *

.

The team put their Lions in their respective hangars, tired but content after their first successful battle against Zarkon. In the quiet of the Black Lion's cockpit, Shiro sagged against his chair and took a deep breath. For a moment he thought they weren't going to be enough, but they'd pulled through, they'd formed Voltron and _won_. His team was something else.

He placed a hand on the dashboard, admiration coating his voice, "You're something else, too." He whispered, and the room vibrated with the resulting deep purr of the Black Lion.

" _Uh… Shiro? A little help here?"_ Pidge called over the com. Shiro paused in confusion, before his jaw dropped in a horrified gasp. He rushed to exit his Lion when he remembered the girl he left with the green paladin. His stomach felt like lead. _Holy crap, was she there the entire time?!_

He nearly tripped on his way out; he nodded in thanks to his Lion for crouching down to let him out. "Sorry Pidge, on my way." Remembering the path he'd taken earlier, Shiro reached the Green Lion's hangar in a record-breaking amount of time. He made a beeline for the Lion, and was pleasantly surprised when it let him in. Pidge was in the middle of rolling the girl up when he made it inside.

The teen laughed nervously at his confused stare, "She, uh… kinda rolled down when I scooted the chair back…" Pidge maintained eye contact while rolling the girl the rest of the way until she was fully covered. Shiro chuckled at the sight and helped righting the girl before picking her up, this time letting Pidge stuff her hair completely behind her head before fully positioning her over his shoulder. They were slow in getting out of the Lion; Pidge walked in front of him to offer support should he lose his balance on the incline. The other three paladins were waiting for them when they made it to the ground, and were fast to approach once they noticed the extra person.

"Woah, who's the enchilada?" Lance leaned back to take a peek. Shiro turned subconsciously, keeping the girl's face from sight. Keith and Hunk watched curiously while Lance kept trying to sneak a glance at the bundle in his arms. He huffed, "What, did you take a _hostage_? Is that why you don't want me to see?"

Hunk looked scandalized, Keith was opening his mouth to say something rash. Shiro denied it immediately, "What? No!" But Lance wasn't in front of him anymore. _When did he move?!_

Pidge smacked his grabby hands away and grinned widely at the resulting yelp. "Knock it off, Lance. We rescued her along with the other prisoners on the ship… actually we should probably get her into a pod with the others."

"I'm afraid all of the healing pods are occupied at the moment." All heads turned to the doorway, where Allura was surveying them quietly, Coran next to her. _How long have they been there?_ Shiro hadn't noticed their arrival.

Coran gave the tarp a curious look before piping up, "We do have a provisional medical chamber however," The older Altean held out his hands, "I can take it from here, if you'd like." He offered kindly.

"No. Um… I've got it, it's fine." The need to adjust his hold on her became all too apparent while he was under Coran's questioning gaze. He didn't need to turn to know the others were looking at him the same way. In truth his right shoulder was starting to cramp, but he wasn't going to admit it. Shiro just… didn't want to hand her off so quickly. It didn't feel right. He cleared his throat, "So. The med bay…?"

Coran perked up. "Hm? Oh! Yes, right this way!" He swiveled elegantly on his feet, leaving everyone to stare at his back as he marched off. Shiro followed suit quickly, finally readjusting his grip and switching his hold on the woman to a princess carry. It was hard to tell where his hands were with the way she was wrapped up, so he could only hope they weren't anywhere inappropriate.

A few steps behind him, he heard Pidge whisper to Allura, "Hey, do you have any extra clothes you could lend her? It's the whole reason we had to cover her up like that." Thank goodness one of them was in their right frame of mind; he'd completely forgotten.

Well, not _completely_ , but he wasn't as comfortable toting her around now that it was at the forefront of his thoughts. Was he being creepy? No, no, he was just carrying her like he'd had from the beginning, with no ulterior motives. He took a breath to calm himself down.

Shiro was a bit on edge after he realized the entire team had followed Coran to the med bay. He kept correcting his grip on the girl in his arms, less out of fatigue and more out of nerves. In the back of his mind he was surprised he'd been able to carry her for so long (then again she wasn't all that heavy, which was yet another thing to worry about). He'd always been fit, as had been required in his training at the Galaxy Garrison, but he was beginning to question the extent of his strength after the brief skirmish with the Galra sentries on the enemy ship.

The doors to the med bay opened automatically when Coran stepped in front of them. The Altean led them into a mostly grey room, with a few blue accents here and there that reduced the strain on the eyes. He directed him to what had to be an examination bed of some kind; it was attached to the wall and had a few controls of unknown purpose on the side, so he wasn't all that sure. Nonetheless, he set the girl down and felt his arms cry in relief.

 _Well, I'm not carrying anything else after this._ His triceps were killing him. Tricep...? Anyway...

They stood awkwardly for a moment, he could tell Coran was anxious by the way he fanned his fingers out at his sides every so often. Lance kept edging "discreetly" closer to the bed, though thankfully Pidge was keeping an eye on him along with Keith. Hunk was wringing his hands, he noticed it was one of the boy's nervous habits. Relief came when the doors opened and Allura entered the room with a bundle of fabric in her arms over a much larger cloth he supposed was a blanket.

Shiro straightened and ordered everyone out, ushering them through the door without pausing to look over his shoulder like Keith and Hunk were doing. He put a warning hand on Lance's shoulder when he tried to hang back. "Come on, you'll get your chance to see her after she's dressed." The boy turned red and scurried out. Oh. He'd forgotten Pidge and himself were the only ones aware of that, and Allura.

Coran and he stood watch over the door while Allura worked, not because they suspected the others of ill intentions, at least Shiro didn't, but it was probably better they kept an eye out for mischief anyway. They were all quietly fidgeting in place, but no one, not even Coran spoke a word, seemingly deep in thought. Allura called them back in after a few minutes, and they filled in quickly to see her handiwork.

She'd successfully pulled the girl's impossibly long hair into a semblance of a plait- Shiro wasn't an expert on hairstyles, so he was going to assume the intricately interwoven tail was a braid and leave it at that. How Allura had managed to do it in such a short amount of time, _with a ridiculous amount of hair_ , was a mystery. Just as foreign as the hairdo were the clothes covering her; a long sky blue dress that exposed her shoulders with fitted sleeves cuffed in gold. It obviously belonged to Allura, since the skirt was long enough to cover the girl's feet. Even lying down she seemed much shorter in comparison.

Her breathing was steady. Shiro wondered what kind of drug they'd used on her, for her to be able to sleep through the entire mission. After getting her hair pulled (on accident), being rolled up and carried around like a carpet, riding on magical Lion-ship and getting changed into new clothes, she hadn't made a sound. While it had made some things easy, Shiro really wished she would open her eyes or move just to make sure she was okay.

 _She might not wake up at all…_ He tried ignoring the thought when it came to him, but it lingered in the back of his mind. What if, by taking her away from that machine, they'd disconnected her from something that was keeping her alive? What if—

"There aren't any large wounds to worry about, but I did find quite a few scars while I changed her." Allura informed them, fussing with the skirt again until she was satisfied with it, before turning to face them.

Pidge gave a small nod, "She was inside this weird tank when we found her, with a bunch of tubes connected to her- with needles." Pidge shuddered but continued, "There were on her wrists and ankles and... on her neck too, I think." The green paladin turned to look at him for confirmation.

Shiro hummed, crossing his arms as he recalled the room she was in. "The tubes connected her to the tank- Pidge figured out how to stop what was going on to get her out. There was this strange liquid in the tank with her, and when whatever was happening stopped, a couple of containers connected to the tank were transported out of the room with the same stuff inside of them."

Keith raised a brow, "How come the other prisoners got to the escape pod and she didn't?" He sounded defensive, almost suspicious. Shiro noticed he was the one standing the furthest away from the examination bed.

"The others were in prison cells, not tanks, we found her in a… lab, and only because the other prisoners told us to look for her. If they hadn't…" He trailed off, but it wasn't hard to guess what would've happened. She would still be on that ship.

"We think they were experimenting on her with this," To his surprise, Pidge pulled out a small glass vial with the same substance they were talking about. At his look, the smaller paladin shrugged and explained, "I thought we'd be able to find out what this thing is if I brought a sample back, so I grabbed it when I was looking for something to cover her up with."

Coran took it with both hands, mindful of the cap. He turned it and held it up to the light with a pensive frown, then brought it back down to swirl it around in its container. He stroked his moustache thoughtfully for another moment, then turned to them, saying, "I… have no idea what this is."

They deflated.

"We... could run it through the castle's sensors and find out... but I'm a bit wary of putting anything Galra-made in them." Allura side-eyed the liquid with the same amount of trust a cat did to a feral dog. None at all.

"We could always ask her, you know, when she wakes up." Lance pointed out, gesturing toward the girl.

Keith shook his head, "There's no guarantee any information from her can be trusted." He crossed his arms defensively at the incredulous looks he got. "What? You found her on a Galra ship. They could've... brainwashed her, or something..." He argued.

Hunk frowned. "She's human, Keith. Isn't that enough?"

Of course, Lance was fast adding his own thoughts. He placed a hand on the red paladin's shoulder, the corners of his lips pulled into a frown. "We can't just turn our back on her, man." Keith shrugged him off with a huff.

Shiro knew it was time to intervene when Keith's brows got low and his jaw clenched. "Lance is right. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Until then, we should get some rest. It's been a tough day and I'm sure we could all use a breather." And with that, they all went their separate ways. After being redirected to their rooms, that is.

Allura covered the girl with a blanket. She nodded at him before leaving to do who knows what. Alone, Shiro moved to exit the room, but he stopped just shy of the doorway. Once, he'd check on her once before leaving. He pivoted on his heels and approached the bed. The fingers on his right hand twitched, clinking in his mind with the near unbearable reminder they weren't actually his. He hesitated a moment before removing the gauntlet on his left hand, glove and all, in order to check on the girl's pulse. When he brought his index and middle finger to the side of her neck however, he noticed them. Tears, trailing from her eyes and into her hair.

Hesitating for a few seconds, Shiro wiped them away. "It's alright, you're safe now." He whispered, unsure if she'd be able to hear him but wanting to offer her any comfort he could. "We won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." He could've sworn he saw a ghost of a smile then, before he left her to recover her strength.

He hoped the next time he made her a promise, she'd be awake for it.

.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Poor Kagome lmao, so much stuff happened to her in this chapter. Someone stepped on my hair once, I can guarantee it is a sucky experience. Thankfully Kagome wasn't awake for that. ( _or was she? o - o )_**

 **Thank you again for such wonderful reviews, and all the follows/favorites! I'll answer any questions as best as I can at the end of the next chapter. See you next time!**

Originally posted June 18th, 2018.


	3. Chapter 3: Misplaced trust

**Thank you for all the positive feedback! I love reading your thoughts on this story, it makes me happy to know you guys like what I wrote.**

 **Warnings:** **None.**

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Chapter 3: Misplaced trust

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* * *

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It had been a few days before Thanksgiving when they heard the news. Katie was playing with Bae-Bae on the floor of the living room, Matt sitting with their parents behind her on the couch. The sun had gone down, and her dad had just switched on the television when the phone rang. Katie scooched over to let him stand, eyes occasionally flicking over to the TV where some goofy sitcom was playing, half an ear tuned to her father's conversation.

"What?!" The shout had them all jumping, but before anyone could ask what was wrong, her father had poked his head back into the living room, the phone clutched tightly in his fist while he pointed at the television with his free hand. "Honey, put on channel two o' seven, please!"

Katie took in her father's pinched brows, his worried frown and tense posture with growing dread as her mother snatched the remote and quickly input the numbers to the local news channel. Matt sat up, his hands resting on the edge of the couch, ready stand if needed. They shared a worried look, before her brother asked, "Dad, what's wrong?"

Her father sat down stiffly in his previous spot on the couch, his fingers immediately finding her mother's, who mirrored her children's concerned expressions perfectly. She looked at her husband, then at the screen, "Samuel, what is…? Oh my goodness…" A hand went to cover her mouth in shock, her eyes fixed on the television.

"… _acecraft KIBO stopped receiving or sending signals, and has all but disappeared, leading us to believe the missing crew is—"_ Following her mother's line of sight, Katie recognized the reporter on the screen as the same one who'd interviewed her father on next year's space exploration mission. Her eyes drifted down to the headline, reading it as it scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

 **CHARON MISSION ENDS IN TRAGEDY: CREW MEMBERS PRESUMED DEAD**

"No way…" Matt whispered, horrified. Katie felt sick as the photographs of the pilot and her crew were shown on screen, all in their white and red uniforms. She took in their young faces, from the black-haired woman, smiling happily at the camera, to the timid, short-haired brunette, and finally to a smirking redheaded man. None of them looked to be more than thirty years old, heck, the pilot herself seemed to be only a few years older than Matt.

Katie felt sick as a thought came to her. _At least they aren't my family._ The relief accentuating it only made her feel guiltier. She hugged Bae-Bae close, only mildly comforted by the dog's nervous licks to her temple. What would she do, she wondered, if her family disappeared on their mission? What if the ship malfunctioned, what if they were stranded on Pluto's moon, what if, what if, what if… Her father stood again, already dialing a number on the house phone. "Excuse me, I need to call Manabu." Katie let him walk past her. A moment later her mother got up to follow him, leaving her and Matt to sit in silence while the awful news continued playing in the background.

After another minute, Matt shut the TV off, and slid down the couch to sit next to her on the floor. Katie looked over at him, at his messy hair and ridiculously large glasses, and felt her eyes mist over at the mere thought of him disappearing from her life for good. "Don't- Don't you _dare_ disappear like that." She demanded, her voice breaking from emotion. She hoped he wouldn't comment on it.

Instead of teasing her for the weak threat, Matt put a comforting hand on her shoulder and nodded. "I won't, Pidge."

"Promise?" She insisted, her hand covering his.

"Promise." He said, not knowing he wouldn't be able to keep it.

Katie rolled over and sat up in an unfamiliar bed. She ran a hand through her damp hair and sighed. Her mind wandered back to a memory she hadn't revisited in years. The missing pilot and her crew had faded from her life nearly as quickly as they'd come into it, only resurfacing on the occasions her father had brought them up, and on the nights leading up to the Kerberos Mission when nightmares kept her awake.

A week after they heard the news, the Garrison held a ceremony in remembrance of the brilliant minds humanity had lost in its pursuit of knowledge. If she remembered correctly, she'd seen Shiro among the attendees that day, maybe she'd even been near Lance or Hunk, since the Garrison had hosted the event in its auditorium, with all the cadets in attendance. The deceased's families had been invited, but Katie only remembered seeing a group of three there: a woman in her forties and a boy around her age, along with a stoic man with long hair the same color as his dark suit.

 _Why am I even thinking about this?_ Katie rubbed her temples as she tried to sort through her brain. Usually she could focus without a problem, but the events of the last three days had her scrambling for stability. When she climbed the roof the night Shiro crashed back into Earth, she had no idea it would lead her here, millions (or billions, or _trillions_ )of miles away from home. No one could've guessed she'd end up in an alien castle, as the pilot to an amazing lion-ship that could become the laser-shooting left arm of a giant mecha. Or that she'd be closer than ever to finding her missing family, she'd boarded the same ship they'd been in. She needed more clues, a hint, anything to start looking again. Maybe she could ask the girl they'd rescued from the Galra if she knew something about her family.

Katie paused her thought process as the girl's face came back to her. She mentally compared her to the blurry memory of the missing Japanese pilot. From what Katie remembered, the pilot had black hair and pale skin, but any distinguishing facial features were lost to her.

It could be a coincidence, after all wouldn't they have found the other members of the Charon Mission in the ship? _Or they could've been separated just like dad and Matt were from Shiro. Ugh, this is getting me nowhere!_ Frustrated, she fell backwards onto the bed. "I figure this out in the morning." She grumbled before kicking her socks off and wrapping herself up in the blanket. Her last thought before she fell asleep, was of seeing her family whole again.

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* * *

.

Waking up was a slow process. She knew something was amiss before even opening her eyes. The usual sting of the device used to shock her awake never came, and Kagome was left to wonder, half asleep, what was going on. Her limbs lacked the heaviness that came after being drained for an indefinite amount of time, almost like it hadn't happened at all. How long had it been since she'd fallen asleep and woken up by herself? By herself…

There was no one around her.

Not a single living presence nearby.

At least not near _her_.

Kagome frowned and listened intently for rhythmic clanging footsteps, or the whirring of the extraction pod settling back into place. Nothing. Just a constant low hum, barely there, but she could feel the vibrations of it on the comfortable surface she was lying on. _Strange_. Her fingers rubbed the thick material under them. It felt almost like leather, but softer, fuzzier? It was nice, warm too, as was whatever covered her. Better than cold metal floors or pungent-smelling operating tables. She focused on her next intake of air and couldn't detect the unpleasant scent anywhere near her. Did that mean she wasn't in the lab?

After a moment of consideration she opened her eyes. She squinted at the brightness of the room – a room, not a pod- and waited until her eyes adjusted to open them completely. Grey and cyan surrounded her, instead of dark purple. For a moment she simply laid there, staring at the silver ceiling in confusion.

 _Where am I?_ A look around the small room didn't provide any useful information. Nothing was familiar or seemed particularly human-made, so she could rule out being back on Earth, not that she'd actually entertained the thought for long anyway.

It took another minute before she decided to sit up. A thin blanket slipped off her shoulders and gathered on her lap. She peered down at it with furrowed brows, unable to recall seeing it anywhere before. Like the cushion underneath her, it was soft and surprisingly warm given its slight weight. To be honest, she'd thought it was her hair, but it had been pulled out of her face and into an intricate braid that started at her hairline and ended just above her waist. She really, _really_ wanted to cut it. Apart from the clothes she wore, it barely felt like there was anything covering her. She froze and looked down slowly at herself. _Wait, I'm wearing… Clothes?_

The blanket tumbled pathetically to the floor once she kicked it off. She shivered from the loss of warmth but didn't move to pick it up while she observed the unfamiliar clothing. Sure enough, she was wearing a dress. Mostly blue in color, with gold trimming at the hem of the skirt and sleeves ending in a point at her wrists. It was pretty, and comfortable to boot.

She pinched the fabric of the left sleeve between her fingers, trying to figure out if she was having an incredibly realistic dream or not. It was light and snug on her arm while still being breathable and stretchy, but she couldn't quite identify what it was made of. Obviously it wasn't something they had on Earth, even if it was remarkably similar to a jersey knit kind of fabric.

Kagome gave the room another quick look around before she peeked down the neckline, discovering with a grim frown that her bra was gone, likely deemed unnecessary what with the thick material the dress had along the inside of the bust. Gathering her courage, she lifted the long skirt. _Thank goodness, they're still there!_ She nearly collapsed with relief when she saw her panties.

Just then, she heard them. Footsteps, coming from somewhere beyond the only visible exit. Fear turned her stomach to lead for an instant, before she forced herself to calm down, and think. She spread her senses out again, and felt a single presence approaching the room. _Only one? Easy._ A smirk pulled at the corner of her lips, though she had to suppress it when the door to the room split across the middle and opened to reveal a short, messy-haired, seemingly human kid in a green and white shirt. Kagome hesitated as she locked eyes with him. She couldn't fight a child.

The kid appeared surprised to see her. "Oh, you're finally awake! I have so many questions to ask you…!" Kagome blinked at the voice. It sounded much higher than she'd expected. So much that it almost distracted her from what the kid was saying. The kid seemed to falter under her stare, before speaking again, "Wait here, okay? I'll go get the others."

Kagome nodded slowly and made a show of staying put until the door closed, all while thinking: _Like hell I'm just gonna sit here._

She sprang to her feet and bolted through the exit as soon as she felt their presence at the edge of her senses. Seeing as they'd gone left, she turned right and sprinted down the corridor in that direction. The hall ended in a fork, she went right again. Her bare feet slapped noisily against the cool metal floor; she had to make a conscious effort to be quiet as she ran, or else it'd be too easy to find her.

After a left turn she made it to a long set of gray stairs. She stopped for a moment to stare out into the darkness at the bottom and searched around for a different route.

" _Wait! Stop!"_ A male voice boomed around her, its origin hard to pinpoint. Kagome screamed, missing the rest of what the voice said as she gathered up the long skirt of the dress she was wearing and rocketed down the steps with speed gained from true fear. The same voice gave directions to her location, she nearly missed it over her own racing pulse. _"She's headed for the Yellow Lion's hangar! No, wait, now she's changed directions! She's almost in the Green Lion's hangar!"_

Kagome let out a breathless curse as her attempt to throw them off was quickly foiled by the voice's insistent and curiously enthusiastic narrating. _English, English, English! Why does everyone speak English in space?!_ She paused again in front of another fork in the hall. One, no, two presences were closing in on her from the right, and three more from the back. Left it was then.

She went left once, then again, doubling back the way she came in a different hall. " _Paladins! She's going back to the entrance. Keith, you're going the wrong way, it's to the right—"_ Apparently one of her pursuers got lost. She slid sideways to the end of the hall and took a different set of stairs up. _"Look at her go! She's quicker than a leaping snarfle!"_

 _A what?_ She tripped on the last step, landing with a yelp on her knees. Thundering footsteps got louder, they were catching up. Kagome scrambled back to her feet, yanking her skirt up with desperate ferocity while she zoomed across a dim corridor. Her foot ached from the collision with the step, and her knees throbbed where they'd hit the ground. Her breathing was getting more and more erratic, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep running—

"Hey!" She squeaked as the shout rang out behind her and ran faster, pushing her legs to their limit, and past it in order to get away. Kagome chanced a peek over her shoulder and saw an angry blur of red and black chasing after her. _Why me, why?_ She mentally hand shot out to grab the wall, using her momentum to make a sharp right turn just as the guy following her reached out to grab her. He ran past the hall and had to double back with another disgruntled " _hey!"_ directed at her.

Just when a smile had started to grown on her face, a big guy in a yellow shirt and vest stood at the end of the hall, his arms and legs spread wide in a clear effort to get her to stop. He even said as much, "Stop! We're not trying to hurt you! No seriously, stop!"

Her eyes dashed from one side to the other before settling on the ground. An idea formed. _I hope this works!_

She fell back a meter before they collided, slid feet-first between his legs and sprung back up behind him without missing a beat. "Woah… Huh? Keith STO- _Oomph!"_ Kagome didn't need to turn to know the guy in red had crashed into him. She left the groaning boys behind, zooming past the same person who'd checked up on her and tall guy in an olive-green jacket.

" _Ooh, looks like Hunk and Keith are out. It's up to Pidge and Lance-! Never mind, she passed them already. You two should try harder!"_

She heard indignant shouts, presumably those of "Pidge" and "Lance" behind her, but she ignored them and kept moving forward without paying attention to the argument they got into with the narrator. There was a long, dark passage up ahead, and a staircase leading down coming up on her right. _Is a map too much to ask for?!_ She thought as she took the stairs down two at a time. Once close to the bottom she jumped and quickly pressed her back against the adjacent wall, hiding from the light that filtered down from the hall.

"Coran, where'd she go?!" There was an aggressive quality in the question. Kagome flinched as the footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs. She could feel all four of them there, searching in the darkness for her. "I'll go this way, you three go that way." Her hand covered her mouth to silence her ragged breath, though it didn't stop her from shaking. Sweat dripped down her face to the floor; she feared they'd hear it. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, it would surely burst if it kept its current pace.

The others seemed to disagree with the order. "What? There's four of us, let's just split into pairs." She recognized the voice, it belonged to the guy she'd slipped under.

"It's alright, Hunk. Keith's just afraid he can't keep up with me."

"I think it's more along the lines of us not being able to keep up with _him_." A third voice corrected dryly. The kid with the green and white shirt from before.

"I don't appreciate your sass, Pidge."

An exasperated feminine voice echoed through the walls, _"Paladins, stop your pointless argument and resume the search._ _Please_ _."_

Trembling, Kagome edged away, groping along the wall as quietly as she could to avoid tripping again. There was a blue glow beyond a stretch of darkness, she made a beeline toward it. _I need to find a place to hide._ It was easier said than done, considering "the voice" could apparently keep track of her without her notice.

She made it to a narrow hall when she heard a different voice from afar call out, "Could we get some light over here?"

The narrator was quick to reply, _"Just a tick. Light's should be on—"_ Kagome glided through a door as the room behind her was illuminated, "—now."

Contrary to what she'd thought, the next room was bathed in shadows. She could barely see her own hand in front of her face. It took a while of walking blind before she bumped into something. Her palms fell on a smooth surface in front of her, possibly metal given the texture and temperature. Kagome circled it, guided by her hands. It was quite big, although she couldn't discern its shape through touch alone. Judging by the distinct sides it had, it felt geometric, most likely it was part of some sort of machine.

Suddenly there was light, far above her, and partially blocked by a strange shape. Kagome leaned back to get a better look. Two yellow trapezoid-like shapes cut through the darkness. With the way they moved… she felt like they were a pair of eyes watching her. From what she could see of the general area around them, they were part of a larger component, another machine maybe?

The ground's ever-present vibrations increased, the hum became a rumble potent enough to make her jump in fright. _Did I turn something on?!_ She quickly retracted her hand, but the sound didn't stop. _They're going to find me!_ Panic crept into her at the realization. She had to go hide, or else the same thing would happen to her, again and again and again… she _would never be free._

Something above her moved. Kagome looked up from the ground, her hands still clutching at her head with dread, and saw the same glowing shapes now a few feet away. She could see what it was now: an enormous mechanical feline head, part of an equally large mechanical feline body. Bolts of blue throughout its length lit up one by one, revealing what she'd previously been touching to be one of its front paws. It was staring at her, waiting for something. The vibrations hadn't stopped, though now that she'd seen what was causing them, she had to wonder if what she felt was actually a _purr_.

Her hand reached out again, slow and unsure, to touch its muzzle. The tips of her fingers brushed against tepid metal. On contact a whirring noise began. Something tickled her senses, an enveloping sensation she felt was wrapping her soul up in a cocoon of warmth. Safe… she felt _safe_.

When the cat-like machine opened up to let her inside, she all but ran in. It guided her upwards to an empty seat placed in front of a dashboard. The exhaustion hit her full force when she carefully sat down in it, her trembling legs tucked in close to her chest to rest her head on her knees. The purring hadn't stopped, nor had the comforting feeling that drew her in. She felt like crying, but pushed the urge away before tears could start falling. All she needed to do was hide there for a while, until the ones outside stopped looking for her. Then, she'd look for a spacecraft of some kind, and get out, hopefully to Earth.

… It wouldn't be so easy. Who knew how far she was from her home planet at that point in time. When her crew was captured, they were all transferred to a different ship. She'd seen no other ship anywhere near Charon, so the only conclusion she could come up with was they'd traveled some distance in a short time to get them there. Given how the first Galra ship appeared out of _nowhere_ , Kagome thought it wouldn't be too implausible for them to have done the same thing to get them back to what the one running the entire operation called the main fleet.

 _Zarkon_.

No, she couldn't go back. Not until she found the rest of her team. She wouldn't abandon them. It didn't matter how, she'd find a way to get her crew back, but she couldn't return to Earth until she did. Kagome wasn't stupid, she knew what would happen if she went back after disappearing for as long as she had. They'd question her, likely keep her from seeing her family even after they were done. She knew too much… maybe they'd even make her "disappear" before she could even ask for help rescuing her team. So for their sake, and hers, she couldn't go back to her planet until she found them.

Her eyes closed. _Sorry mama, Souta, gramps… it'll be another while until I come home…_ She thought with regret, and the tears she was holding back fell one by one. How long had it been since she really cried? Since she'd had the energy to even think about it? To cope with her separation she'd bottled everything up, to keep herself sane she didn't think, didn't dare to remember, lest the Galra find a way to exploit even that. But she was practically alone now, she could try to assimilate everything.

Kagome shook her head at herself and rubbed at her face tiredly, giving one last pathetic sniffle. _Now's not the time for this._ She had to be alert. They were still looking for her, whoever they were. From the brief glimpse of them she got, it was obvious they weren't Galra; they had no fuzzy purple skin or armor, unless Galra were just as diverse as humans, she'd assume they weren't. Actually, they looked… human. Her brows pinched together as she considered the idea. She'd been dizzied with sleep when the first one showed up in the room she woke up in. The rest of them were equally blurry in her mind since she'd been running without actually paying attention to what they looked like, so she couldn't say with certainty they _weren't_ human.

 _But it doesn't make sense. What would a bunch of humans be doing here?_ The confusion she felt mounted with every question that popped into her head. _I've never seen a machine like this, it's definitely not human._ Kagome thought and quirked a tiny smile when the steady purrs fluctuated, as if it was agreeing with her.

"Um… Hello?" A hand landed on her shoulder. Kagome lunged forward with a terrified screech, twisting to face the newcomer with wide eyes as she balanced herself on the dashboard like a feral cat. The skirt of her dress got snagged on some of the controls as she backed away, but she yanked it back before it could hinder her movements. The man who'd touched her held his hands out in front of him in a sign of peace, looking as startled as she felt. She caught sight of his prosthetic right arm, attached to the lower half of his bicep, and narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn't human.

He saw her eyes flick behind him, to the exit. "Wait, let's calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He took a small step toward her, she immediately edged away from him. Seeing this, he stopped moving closer altogether and dropped his hands so they rested at his sides. He took a long step back, raising his hands for her to see. Then, to her utter confusion, he sat down on the floor. "See? I just want to talk." He insisted, his posture relaxed and loose.

Kagome stared at him. _What the…?_ She lowered herself from the dashboard, enough that her feet were on solid ground, ready to move at the slightest provocation. "Why," Her voice was scratchy, the dryness of her throat making itself more apparent than ever. How long had she gone without water? Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Why should I trust anything you have to say?"

The anger in her words caught the man off guard. Actually, he seemed surprised she even spoke at all. "I—"

She wouldn't let him lie, wouldn't even give him the chance to. She stood to her full height, glaring down at him with undisguised fury. "You and your soldiers chase me through this entire gods-forsaken place, and you want me to just _sit_ and listen to whatever you have to _say_?!" The nerve of him!

"Don't you think talking should've been the first thing to do?! But no, you didn't even try, you went straight to chasing. And why? Because you want to lock me up again!" Her chest heaved by the end of her tirade, heat gathered in her hands. "And if you think I'm just going to let you, you're dead wrong!"

"Hey, you're the one who ran. How do you expect us to talk if you run away the first chance you get?" The man retorted. He didn't raise his voice at her like she expected, he just sat there, frowning, looking almost worried.

 _As if a cute pair of puppy eyes are enough to fool me._ She scowled at him. "Your little GPS friend was perfectly able to talk, wasn't he?" She snapped, crossing her arms. "But instead, he just told you how to capture me. Isn't that convenient?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Look, we haven't been in this castle for long. None of us know the layout well enough. Coran was just trying to help us find you- so we could _talk_ , not capture you- and get you back to the infirmary." He met her unyielding stare with a sincere one of his own, "We still don't know what the Galra were doing to you. Until one of the healing pods is free, you have to stay there so we can keep an eye on you."

The mention of her previous captors gave her pause. He implied he wasn't Galra, but… "What are you?" She looked at his prosthetic arm, it looked more advanced than anything she'd ever seen on her home planet.

He blinked at her. "Japanese-American…?" He trailed off, the pitch of his voice rising in confusion.

Kagome stopped breathing.

 _No way._

The back of her knees hit the dashboard. Her hand shot out to brace herself, but her eyes never left the man who grew increasingly startled by the second. She didn't notice when her knees hit the ground, too stunned to feel the metal floor biting into her skin. Of course, she was blind to the signs. His almond-shaped eyes, the familiar slang, all of it pointed to his humanity. She'd been fixated on the inhuman aspect of his body, had taken the prosthetic limb reaching out to her even now to mean he wasn't human. Because he couldn't be, not so far from their home, not with all the anomalies around them. Or so she'd thought.

Even with all the evidence, she still had to ask. Kagome looked up into wide grey eyes -when had he gotten so close? – and breathed again. "You're… human?" She whispered, terrified of being wrong when she felt hope again for the first time in so, so long.

The man smiled, the gesture tender and comforting. "Yeah." The answer wasn't long, but she didn't need anything more.

Relieved beyond words, Kagome brought her knees to her chest and broke down crying. Her body quivered with each mute sob. Tears and snot fell freely down her face before she buried it into the fabric of the borrowed dress, shielding herself from the man's kind eyes.

An immeasurable amount of time passed before she felt warmth on her shoulder. The hand touching her was soft. She barely stopped herself from leaning into it. Her self-control hung by a thread when three years of being touch-starved hit her like a bus. He was kneeling next to her, no longer blocking the exit. She could run, if she wanted to. She could choose to deny his claim and escape. Except, she didn't want to. Maybe it was stupid, after all she'd been through, to be so reckless and trust this man just because of his species, but she wanted desperately to believe in him. While he patted her back and murmured comforting things into the air, Kagome made her choice: she wouldn't place her whole trust in him immediately, but just a little bit was enough.

After a while, her sobs turned to quiet hiccups, and the realization she'd turned into a weepy mess in front of a stranger dawned on her. She pressed her face further into her knees, feeling like she wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. He didn't notice her burning ears as he gave one last comforting pat and asked her, "Do you want to stay here a little longer, or come back to the infirmary with me?"

Kagome considered the offer as she tried to discreetly clean her face with the skirt of the dress (she mentally sent infinite apologies to whoever lent it to her for ruining it with her… fluids). Too embarrassed to look up yet, she muttered her answer into her skirt.

"Sorry, didn't catch that. What did you say?" Oh, why was he leaning so close, that was the opposite of what she wanted. Her plan backfired stupendously.

She let go of her legs to run her hands down her face, wiping the remaining tears away at the same time. Knowing he was waiting patiently for her response, Kagome kept her eyes on her feet while she spoke. "I-I said we can go…" She cringed at the sound of her voice. Where were the tissues when she needed them?

The man chuckled and stood, offering his hand for her to do the same. Her hand wrapped around his prosthetic one, and a shock went up her arm. They snatched their hands back, simultaneously looking at their palms, then at each other. He chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry! This thing's pretty conductive, apparently. Here," He held his other hand out, which she took after eyeing it with some hesitance. Unconsciously, she flexed her hand while they exited the room.

Her entire arm wouldn't stop tingling.

.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hard times await our main gal. And the others.**

 **So, when I say I'd love to hear what you think about this story, I really mean it. Does anyone seem OOC? Plot holes? Weird things in general? Let me know! I want to improve as a writer, so your reviews are important to me. Thanks again to all of you who've shared your comments and love so far, I'll see you in the next chap.**

Originally posted July 7th, 2018.


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